The "Best" Thanksgiving

Picture this: a wonderful vacation away from the yucky weather in Michigan. A great Thanksgiving in St. Louis with your family. You get to see all of your family that you haven’t seen in a year! All of this sounds awesome right? And it would be great... if it wasn't for the ten hour drive.

For the past week my family and I have been dreading this long trip to St. Louis. "If one of our kids are sick, do we still have to go?" My dad has been asking my mom at least twice a day. But the truth is, nothing can get us out of this trip. We have to go visit our family in St. Louis. Now, don't get me wrong, I love my Aunt and Uncle out in St. Louis, and I always have a blast with my little cousins. But a ten-hour drive with five people and a dog, that’s what I'm having a hard time with. But, there's no way out. We're the only family that hasn't been out to visit yet, so it's our time.

My friends keep saying that ten hours isn't that big of a deal if I sleep. Which is true, if I could sleep I would sleep through the entire ride. But, I can't. It's like I have a disease that stops you from sleeping in a moving car. Planes are fine, trains are fine, even busses are fine. But, when I'm in a car, I cannot sleep no matter how tired I am. But there was nothing I could do. I had to drive to St. Louis.

I woke to my dad’s strict voice telling me to get out of bed at four o’clock in the morning on Wednesday. Sluggishly, I waddled down the stairs and into the back of the white minivan. To my surprise, I was out in the matter of seconds, not waking up until 8 when we stopped for breakfast. After that I mostly slept and watch a few movies.

When we finally arrived to the big house in the city of St. Louis Lake, my 5 and 7-year-old cousins greeted us with enthusiasm. Great, I thought. I forgot about the cousins. I was going to have to babysit them while the adults had a great time and I’m stuck running around for the kids. Just my luck, I thought. I’m already exhausted from the car ride and now I have to watch the kids. What a great Thanksgiving this was turning out to be.

Once Thanksgiving finally came around, everyone was in a bad mood because the Detroit Lions lost… again. But the silent dinner wasn’t too bad, turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, broccoli, cranberry sauce, and of course biscuits.

How could this Thanksgiving possibly get worse? I thought. Everything had already gone wrong. Or, so I thought. For when Saturday came around and Michigan lost, yet again, everyone was in a horrible mood. Such a bad mood that my dad wouldn’t even talk to me.

So clearly, this was THE best Thanksgiving ever.

 

The Rabbit Proof Fence

Imagine going through your day like any other normal day. Imagine waking up and taking a shower and eating breakfast. Imagine playing with your friends when suddenly strangers invade your house and take you away from your family. They throw you in the back of a truck and take you to a camp and force you to learn a different life style. You cannot talk your native language and you have to be catholic. And you had to act like a sex slave to breed your children into all white children. This was how it was for Molly, Gracie, and Daisy.

            In the film “The Rabbit Proof Fence,” the white, European men moved into the Aboriginal life style, trying to change their culture. They thought that they were helping the Aboriginals by building a fence to block off the rabbits, giving the Aborigines food and water. But, at the same time, they were taking away half of their population; the half casts. The Aborigines have their own culture and like the way they live. They don’t need the European men taking it away from them.

            As if this wasn’t bad enough, the Aborigines were beginning to be taken way from their family and sent into the Moor River Camp. There they would learn the lifestyles of the white people, speaking their language, learning their religion, and eating their food. I believe that a human being doing this to another human being is just sickening. I don’t understand how someone can see another person as some kind of animal; trying to breed him or her into a certain race.  How can the human race be so mean?

            Sadly, this isn’t the first time the human race has been so cruel, and it wont be the last. The worst of this, as you remember, was the Holocaust. The difference with this was that the Nazi’s tried to do to the Jews; tried to ultimate all of them from the world and make everyone the same race. Although this time they weren’t killing people, they still had the same intentions.

            This film really opened my eyes up to the cruelty of humans. Us as human beings need to realize that the world is filled with different kinds of people. No one will ever be the same as another. We cannot continue to try to change that fact. Just realize that everyone has his or her different ways of life. Live your life the way you want to and don’t try to make everyone like you.

Too Old To Trick-Or-Treat?

How is it possible to be “too old to trick-or-treat?”  After all, doesn’t everyone, no matter what age, enjoy dressing up like an idiot and going door-to-door begging for free candy? This year when I went trick-or-treating I was constantly asked my age and told I was “too old to trick-or-treat.”

This year before Halloween, my mom told me that she hated when teenagers my age came to her door begging for candy. But what’s wrong with a few teenagers that still have the spirit of Halloween inside of them? I believe that if you still dress up and say trick-or-treat, it’s all right to continue to trick-or-treat no matter how old you are. So, my friends and I dressed up and went trick-or-treating for one last year.

After a few houses, we came to a big, scary, house that smelled like smoke and old people. We all chanted trick-or-treat for a minute or two until an old man in a plaid shirt came to the door with a bowl of delicious chocolates. He looked up at us with a strange expression on his face. His light green eyes scanned the group of teenagers in front of him. After a moment or two, his raspy voice called out asking, “How old are you?”

Without thinking we all called out twelve or thirteen. His threatening eyes looked right into mine and I felt as if he now suddenly new everything about me. He knew now that I had just told a lie. And with that, he closed the door on us, leaving us on the empty porch in front of his house. We then continued our journey in the cold on our hunt for free candy.

The next few houses were pretty friendly. A few questions here and there, but nothing too dramatic.  But I couldn’t help but go back to what the old man said. I felt his glare go right through me. I had a strange feeling inside of me, like there was a stranger out there that new everything about me.

My last year of trick-or-treating was great. I just couldn’t believe how many people had an age limit to trick-or-treating. If you still enjoy getting candy on Halloween, why can’t you go trick-or-treating no matter what age?

Breast Cancer Awareness

The United States should not dedicate the entire month of October to Breast Cancer Awareness.

Breast cancer is already one of the best-funded deadly diseases. Breast cancer receives $750 million in annual NIH funding. Now don’t get me wrong, I love how much more awareness there has been about breast cancer over the past few years, but what about the other cancers or deadly diseases out there? According to Forbes debater Robert Langreth, colon cancer “causes 10,000 more deaths than breast cancer but gets half the federal funding.” If colon cancer is deadlier than breast cancer and needs more funding, why aren’t we going out of our way to increase awareness to colon cancer? This would be like a third grade geography class studying all fifty-two states in one year, and spending an entire month on Missouri. If the goal for the students were to learn about all fifty-two states by the time the school year is over, a wise teacher would spend an equal amount of time on each state. If the teacher spends a month on Missouri, the students would be very informed about Missouri, but at the cost of not knowing as much on the other states. In a similar way, the goal in this country should be to increase awareness and funding for research on all deadly diseases. There are far too many illnesses to spend an entire month on just one. Those leading the fight against breast cancer have done a brilliant job raising awareness of the deadly disease, and for that they should be applauded. The point of this blog is not to diminish their effort, or to take the spotlight away from breast cancer awareness. That being said, with so many different forms of deadly cancer and other diseases, and only 365 days in a year to increase the publics’ awareness, thirty-one days is just too many to spend on one cancer.  

The Joys of Being a Dancer

Do you ever enjoy getting screamed at for no reason while working as hard as you can? Do you ever like to sweat bullets the size of softballs and watch them drip onto the ground? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to go to a sport everyday praying that you make it out alive? If you can say yes to any of these questions, then dance is the sport for you! Please come stop by Juliana’s Academy of Dance where the teachers will make you cry every night, GUARANTEED.

            If you think I’m exaggerating at all, then you’re wrong. Everyday at the fabulous Juliana’s Academy of Dance, my teachers push me to my absolute limit… Every. Single. Day. Now don’t get me wrong, I love it there. They help me become a better dancer, and I feel like I improve every day still. But, there are still a few things to not like about Juliana’s academy of dance.

1.    Being absent. Sure they may say that its okay to occasionally miss dance, and that school comes first, but they don’t mean it. As soon as you believe one of these crazy lies and miss dance for a lot of homework or a school event, you are out of a dance. No doubt about it. Consider your butt kicked out of your favorite dance as soon as you miss one class. Oh, and you better not be hurt or sick without a doctor’s note, or else you may get kicked out of the studio. 

2.    Watching your figure. Do you have a high self-esteem and want to make you feel really bad for yourself? If you do, please come enjoy a relaxing ballet class with me. You will enjoy the soothing slap on the back or leg to tell you to pull up, and you’ll enjoy constantly being called fat and ugly and a horrible dancer. I know that really puts the icing on the cake for me after a stressful day at school for me.

3.    Conditioning. This problem is for all of you football players. Do you hate conditioning? Do you think your conditioning is really hard and painful? If so, you haven’t seen anything until you watch one of my technique classes. Words can’t explain the pain it puts in me. My entire body begins to cramp up and I just want to collapse but I know that if I do, I will get in trouble and kicked out of class. So, I suck it up and watch the sweat roll down my bare stomach.

So, as you can see, Juliana’s Academy of dance is full of great fun so please, stop in and take some classes! See you there!

Me, Myself, and I

A-is for autumn. My favorite season of the year. With the beautiful leaves swirling in the wind. A is also for Arizona ice tea. My favorite drink in the cool of autumn.
B-is for ballet. One of the many types of dancing that I do. Babysitting. Another thing that I often do in my spare time. Helping out many different families and making some money for myself.

C-is for cats. The one thing that I'm allergic to. C is also for car. What i cant wait to get in just two short years.

D-is for dancer, the definition of me. I have been dancing for about ten years now and hope to make a career out of it. D is also for dog.  My favorite kind of animal. They truly are mans best friend.

E-is for electricity, what i couldn't live without. I'm very thankful of electricity but I also know that I constantly waste it. Energetic. Like Electricity, I have a lot of energy. I am very talkative and out-going but know when it's time to behave.

F-is for France. The one country that I have always dreamed about visiting. Friends. The people that I would love to go to France with. I love my friends and couldn't live without them.

G-is for grateful. I am very grateful for everything that I have. G is also for... GAGA! Lady Gaga my favorite singer. She inspires me to be who ever I want to be and not to let anyone else influence me to become a person that I don't want to be.

H-is for Hubbard. My last name. H is also for happy. I am often very happy. I try to stay positive and up-beat as much as I can.

I-is for inquisitive. I am constantly asking questions and love learning something new. I am also very interesting and unique. I'm not like normal teenage girls. With my busy schedule I hardly have time to be a "normal" teenage girl.

J-is for Juliana's academy of dance. My dance studio. My second home. Where I train for 20 hours a week to become a professional dancer. J is also for Just Friends. My all time favorite movie. I somehow still laugh every time I see it.

K-is for kid. If I could have one wish, I would wish that I was a little kid again. I love being a little kid and wish I could go back. K is also for Kalahari. I wish I could go back. I always seam to have the best times at Kalahari.
L-is for Lyrical. My favorite type of dance. L is also for Language arts. My favorite subject in school. I always love to write.
M-is for Madison. That's my name, don't wear it out. Mia Michaels. My idol. She inspires me to dance. I dance for her.
N-is for narcissistic. The opposite of me. I was raised to never ever be self-centered. N is also for Nike high tops. What I love. I am obsessed with me Nike high tops.
O-is obviously for The Office. The greatest show in the world. O is also for obsessed. I am obsessed with The Office.
P-is for pizza. My favorite type of food. The greasier and less healthy the better. If I'm not eating pizza, I'm a big fan of Panda Express too. It may not be the healthiest, but boy is it delicious!
Q-is for quotes. I am obsessed with my quotes. I am constantly looking up new quotes to use. Q is also for quiet. As weird as it seams, I used to be very quiet and shy. Although I am not as much anymore, I'm still quiet at the times that are necessary.
R-is for running. The only thing that seams to help me loose weight, along with eating healthier. As much as I don't like it, I know that it's necessary  for me to run whenever I get a chance. Royal Oak is often where I do much of my working out, helping me keep in shape. Royal Oak is where I my dance studio is.
S-is for Singing in the Rain. A classic movie that will never get old to me. The dancing and singing in it is just phenomenal. S is also for solo. This is my 5th year doing a solo at dance and I still get nervous every time I perform it.
T-is for Taco Bell. Obviously the greatest fast food place there is. Along with Taco Bell, T is for texting. I am constantly texting. My parents are always getting mad at me about it.
U-is for Urban Outfitters. My favorite store to shop for clothes at. But sometimes I wish that I didn't have to go shopping and all I had to wear to school was an Uniform.
V-is for Verizon. The type of phone that I have. I love it. i am always getting great reception. V is also for vogue. My friends and I are constantly goofing off pretending to be models and "vogue".
W-is for white. The prime color because it contains all colors in it. W is also for the web. The internet web to be exact. What would I do without it?
X-is for X-treme (extreme).  I always do the extreme of things; always have to make sure everything is perfect. X is also for Xbox. I love to play xbox when ever i get the chance.
Y-is for You and I Both. My favorite song by Jason Mraz. Y is also for Youtube. I am constantly looking up dancers on youtube making myself better at dancing as much as I can.
Z-is for Zap Zone! A place for little kids, but every time i go there it seams to just get better and better! Z is also for Zac Brown Band. One of my favorite country singers/band